Sherlock Vs The Widowed Woman
by Ash-Wood95
Summary: Sherlock has been called by Lestrade to assist on a simple murder case. How did Mr Maydrew die? He will find out, he always does. But what were the circumstances that led to his death, and what was the motive. They are yet to be determined, but not to worry: Sherlock Holmes is on the case.


The lifeless body of one Mr Jeremy Maydrew lay flat on the light brown rug that sat upon the floor in his living room. The colour had now become sullied with the dark red of his dried blood, which ran from the scraping wound in the back of his head and poured out over the rug whilst also trailing off to the dolphin statued that had been used to bludgeon him to death. The statue itself was broken off at the Dolphin's beak, evidently from the use of force required to have killed Mr Maydrew a single, deadly swoop. He lay there with the blood seeping past his dirty blond hair and ruining his green jumper as well.

Sherlock entered the room emitting a strong and determined aura which soon filled the room. Watson soon followed and his face turned into a frown upon the grisly sight that lay before him. Mr Maydrew's Wife stood in the door and was being talked to by Lestrade, but as Sherlock entered the room and failed to have a look of sadness at a human's lost life she glanced over almost in concern. Her long black hair reached past her shoulders and she wore a rather formal uniform consisting of a white blouse and long, neat burgundy coloured skirt. "Not to worry Mrs Maydrew, he is here to help" Lestrade said to comfort her and ensure her everything was okay.

Sherlock knelt over the body, on lookers could easily say he was too close in proximity but Sherlock didn't care, and he began to give quick glances at specific areas of the body in silence.

Mrs Maydrew saw this and went to object by asking "And what exactly are you here for? What is your specifialty, Mister...?"

Without looking at her he simply responded with "I am the world's one and only consulting detective and I am here to solve the mystery behind your husband's death"

She mouthed "consulting detective" in wonder at what that actually meant before seeing Lestrade simply shaking his head, suggesting she doesn't even bother asking. But she has another question anyway "I thought you had ruled it out as an attempted robbery that went wrong!?" She said to Lestrade

"We did, but our "Consulting detective" is here to give a second opinion, just to be sure" Lestrade responded and Mrs Maydrew had a rather concerned look come across her face as Sherlock got up and ran erratically around the body, narrowly dodging the pool of blood.

"Do you mind? That is my husband!" she directed at Sherlock harshly to which he replied with

"Do you mind? I'm trying to work!"

The room remained silent until Sherlock looked to Lestrade "So you say this was an attempted robbery but the robber was discovered by Mr Maydrew and they entered a confrontation that resulted in the robber clobbering him over the head with the statue?"

"That is our ongoing theory yes" Lestrade answered

"No!" Sherlock delcared

"Sorry?" Lestrade asked in wonder. Mrs Maydrew went to object to Sherlock's tone over her husband's death but he gave her no chance.

"You can't be that stupid Lestrade, come on. Who looked over the body before me?"

"That would be Anderson"

"Oh well there you go then, that's why this was all missed. Watson, care to take a look" he waved his hand at the body giving John Watson the all clear to approach before Sherlock continued "I saw no signs of forced entry at that door on our way in. A thief would have at least required some way to break in if they were to be quick enough to steal anything without anyone in this neighbourhood seeing it, meaning there would be a visible sign of forced entry left behind yet there was none. Now, you could say that it was someone Mr Maydrew knew, which is the likely theory and is what I have come to settle on, and to confirm..."

Sherlock turned to Watson "John?"

"Well, he was struck at the back of the head, the wound stretches a couple inches but is deep enough to have killed him quickly" John gave his verdict "the killer would have had to be positioned closely behind him in order to strike him at the necessary angle"

Sherlock turned back to Lestrade and continued with his own deductions" If it was someone he knew he would have easily turned his back on them trustingly. Plus, there is no sign of struggle between him and anyone else. In fact everything is surprisingly in order, neat and tidy. As if someone has cleaned away any evidence. So, it had to be someone he knew." He stopped abruptly and began to look around the room some more before pulling out his phone and tapping away at the keypad.

Lestrade and Watson exchanged looks and Lestrade just shrugged. It seemed he had gone off into another zone, but he often did this and the likelihood was he was waiting for someone to ask a certain question. So, John began to riddle his brain and he could think of a few, thus he made to ask one. "Erm, Sher..." But he was quickly interupted as Sherlock spoke abruptly

"Mrs Maydrew, you work at Miller and Franks right?" He asked referencing the local dealership that dealt with international goods with value, and of course he already knew the answer. "Yes you do, I can tell by the logo partially hidden on your folded jacket on the chair behind me" Watson looked behind Sherlock and indeed there was a folded jacket, coloured burgundy, with a logo only partially revealed but it showed the letter "M" in bold, obviously standing for Miller.

"So, tell me what time did you get back and find your husband like this?"

She hesitated but then eventually answered with a weak voice "Around five this morning, I was coming off of a long night shift but I finished early."

"What time did you leave the building, and what route did you take to get home?"

"I left at around half four and came home along Heatherton Road as I always do, I could have been here in fifteen minutes but I was delayed by the storm that happened earlier this morning"

"No you weren't." Sherlock sternly declared after a bit more time on his phone.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked, horrified at the suggetion she had lied

"You weren't delayed at all. You came down Heatherton Road, sure, but your arm twitch, which acts a tell for when you lie, suggests you came home after the storm was already over and clear. The weather reports here inform me that Heatherton Road was also clear of the affected area" he showed her the reports on his phone that listed areas affected by the storm before he changed to screen to show a picture of google maps following the exact route Mrs Maydrew said she had taken. He had compared the data from the two and concluded: "So, you couldn't have been delayed by it. Meaning, you did indeed get home within fifteen minutes. In fact, judging how dry your shoes by the front door were by the time we got here you were actually home a lot ealier than Five O'clock. I'd say around Three O'clock. Now, John what time would you say Mr Maydrew here died?"

"I'd estimate around quarter past Three" he verified

"Exactly. So, you got home at Three O'clock and by quarter past you had taken that statue, and with surprising strength you bashed your husband over the head." He informed everyone who could hear of the events that had transpired.

"And why on Earth would I do that?" She roared loudly, questioning his accusation

He began walking around the room as if averting her question, his eyes quickly whipped back and forth at various things before they atopped next to a desk in the corner of the room. He looked down at the desk and spotted a passport laying on top and a small case sitting next to it. He picked up the passport and flicked straight to the latest entry "You recently returned from Paris, I suppose you told everyone it was a business trip?"

"Of course, the company recently acquired a rare item and I was sent to pick it up personally and..." She paused, put her hand to her face in frustration before glaring at Sherlock in a clearly upset way "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, you returned yesterday afternoon according to your passport here, but evidently you did not return home. Instead you went straight to work." He added

"Yes, I had to return the item" Mrs Maydrew responded with a strongly defensive tone.

"That could have taken an hour at most, including all the time it would take to go through all the formalities. But you said you didn't return until Five this morning. It is obvious you were lying Mrs Maydrew, now all we need to know is why, and I am certain I know." Sherlock walked right up to her and looked her straight in the eyes "This whole time I have been watching your body language, you haven't given a single visible gesture in the direction of your deceased husband, this is not a trait of grief but it is one of guilt. Also, your body language has suggested actual frustration to his living memory, I am willing to say as a result of him discovering the truth behind your time abroad. You were having an affair weren't you?!"

Sherlock watched her face for a reaction, no matter how small. And he saw it: her face contorted for a small second in anger.

"Of course you were. So here is how the events leading up to Mr Maydrew's death transpired: You got off the airplane yesterday afternoon and headed to work to drop off the item. But you stayed at work longer than you required, likely due to the probability that your affair was tied to a work mate. You remained at work so you could remain with whomever you were cheating on your husband with. Until you had to come home early this morning. You hoped to get in and find he was asleep, but instead he was waiting here for you."

Sherlock turned to Lestrade for a second to say "By the way, you were correct that there was a fight, but it wasn't a physical confrontation until the fateful moment in which Mr Maydrew lost his life." And he then returned to facing Mrs Maydrew directly as he continued his full report of everything he had deduced "You two had an argument as he confronted you with the fact he knew about your affair. You got angry and as soon as he turned his back you lashed out with the statue, killing him instantly. He probably never even knew what happened."

The whole time she just watched as Sherlock reeled out the information quickly and almost without pause, a look of sheer shock and a hint of panic lingered upon her face.

"Finally, you saw what you did and decided to try to cover your tracks. You cleaned up as much as you could to hide any indication of your arrival home before his murder, and it almost worked. You managed to fool Anderson, though that doesn't take much, and the rest of the Police all around you. They are paid professionals and you managed to slip the wool over their eyes, if I wasn't so good at finding the precise clues you tried to hide I would almost be impressed. Almost."

Tension filled the room now as Sherlock stood there quiet but flawlessly still, not even blinking as he stared at Mrs Maydrew. She stared back and held it for as long as she could but his resolve proved to be much stronger so she gave in.

Tears started streaming down her cheeks and she started emotionally blabbing and admitting to her sins "I did it, I killed my husband. I was so angry, I couldn't help it. I just ... I" Sherlock moved backwards as the emotional vibe emanating from her became too strong for him and it practically began to make him feel uneasy. He glanced at Watson who smirked at seeing his reaction to what had just occured. Mrs Maydrew kept on repeating how sorry she was for what she did until Lestrade placed cuffs on her wrists and began reading her rights. Sherlock took in the sight, he had done it again. He had effortlessly caught a criminal, though part of him felt this case overall was beneath him. He was barely in the room for ten minutes and he had already managed to solve it, this only reinforced his conclusion that he is absolutely the best at what he does. He straightened his overcoat and moved towards the door.

"I believe my work is indeed finished here Inspector" he stated to Lestrade but he was interupted as a radio that belonged to an officer just behind Lestrade, who had been watching the events in the living room play out, began to crackle until a voice croaked out.

"We got a situation down at King's Cross Station, we could use some assistance" it said and the officer responded

"What's up?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to describe. There has been a distress call, but we don't really know what about. There seems to be some sort of clue but no one can make sense of it. Also, there are some initials too: J.M."

Sherlock perked up at hearing the mentioned initials and before anyone could make a move he bounced past Lestrade and Mrs Maydrew, who was crying so much the radio wasn't audible to her, and began running down the stairs. His voice called up as he reached the final flight of stairs "Come along Watson, we have work to do." But Sherlock was also forced to come to a quick halt at the bannister as Lestrade called down to him

"Where exactly do you think you're going?"

Watson was now on his way down to meet Sherlock, but all Sherlock did was look at Lestrade and grin, baring his teeth in doing so, before he gave his response

"You have a case that no one knows anything about, with a clue no one know's how to decipher and the initials of the world's only Consulting Criminal. So, who do you call for help?" He paused for a moment and the grin remained whilst Lestrade had a slight moment of contemplation despite the fact he knew the answer.

"Sherlock Holmes, that's who!"

**A/N Thank you for reading my Sherlock fanfic. I wrote this as a one shot after the idea popped into my head and just would not leave at all. It is a rather simple concept, more than anything I used it to try my hand at writing such an intellectual and complex character such as Sherlock. It is not my first fanfic but it is my first time writing one with a pre-existing character at the centre of it all, so please feel free to leave a comment telling me how I did. Did I do amazingly good for a first time? Or do I really need some work? **

**Admittedly, I did write it quickly but cautiously to get my idea out there in story form but to try to handle it properly too. Either way I thank you for at least taking the time to read this story, I appreciate it immensely. **


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